Author Archives: Administrator

Tamron 28-200mm f2.8-5.6 Di III RXD Lens Review (Hindi)

Riding into the Astral through Photography
“These worlds in space are as countless as all the grains of sand on all of the beaches of the Earth” – Carl Sagan. Only a few things are as beautiful as the sight of a clear star-studded night sky. What is even better is to be able to see celestial bodies which are otherwise impossible to witness with our naked eyes. Thanks to technology, astro photographers over the years have been able to capture detailed images of deep space objects adding to our limited idea of the universe.



Motorcycling as a genre has powerful synergy with Photography. At Royal Enfield, they understand and hence, they curated Astral Ride – a seven day excursion for photography enthusiasts. In the first edition of Astral Ride which happened in October 2019, aspiring photographers from around the country rode across the Himalayas to the Indian Astrological Observatory at Hanle in Ladakh riding their #REHimalayan to learn the meaning of astro photography. With professional guidance provided to amateurs that ride Royal Enfields, this ride has been perfect for expanding the scope of knowledge of photography, especially Astro photography. Like the Himalayan Odyssey, Astral Ride is Royal Enfield’s way of organising a riding experience which was infused with life-changing photography destinations and a classroom full of throttle riders learning how to capture the night sky.


Having said that, Royal Enfield has been endlessly encouraging its community of riders to explore different aspect of motorcycling and curate experiences that last for a lifetime.
Photo Credits – Royal Enfield

Interview with Cory Richards: Breaking down Ambition versus Reality
Excerpts:
What is the level of preparations that an adventure photographer undergoes ahead of any expedition?
These trips are months, if not years of making. Often times before a large expedition, like the one with the Rolls-Royce Cullinan I spent a few months in preparation, learning about the place I was going and doing research, then a couple of weeks of packing, making sure I had all the equipment I needed from a photography perspective. These things are logistical puzzles, some people would call them nightmares, some people would call them an absolute dream. I tend to think of them more as nightmares and I am always blown away by the capacity of the teams that come together and orchestrate these massive endeavours.
If you look back at all the time that I am putting into my next adventure, which I’m embarking on in spring, it is literally ten years of work. The acute preparation is around three months while the training period is about a year.
Despite vigorous preparation factors like isolation, fatigue among others take one to the edge of their mental toughness. Do you think any level of prep can do that?
I mean you can’t prepare for the rapid shifts that may or may not happen in an assignment or an expedition, because all you can do is adapt to the moment as it unfolds. That’s the nature of expeditions or exploration. The only thing that prepares for that kind of decision- making is doing that decision-making. You will not know what those decisions are going to be or what is going to predicate them.
I found that pushing through hard things have been radically trained by small things that I do at home which include my day-to-day workouts that I really push myself through. That could be incremental like pushing yourself to do more reps? Those little mechanisms we teach our mind to do in our day-to-day lives have profound impact on your morality out in the field. Also, setting goals and achieving them, accomplishing small digestible goals. When you finally reach that end where you push through your absolute limit, it will be by breaking down that final goal into digestible pieces.
What are the practical difficulties that a photographer faces while shooting in such extreme conditions?
The practical difficulties I encounter are usually environmental. Either extreme cold or extreme heat, wind. For example, when I was shooting with Rolls-Royce, we were taking the Cullinan through the Empty Quarter and we were hit by a massive sandstorm in the middle of the dessert that thrashed one of my best cameras. That’s one of those things we have to adapt to and those are sort of the environmental challenges that I encounter. On the other hand, in extreme cold conditions you are trying to keep things powered up, like your camera battery. But really, the things that are hardest are the mental hurdles, being away from home, being away from loved ones, being in life-threatening situations and accessing the risk and breaking down ambition versus reality. Those things are much more taxing, they don’t have the same acute challenge as the environmental hurdles that I often face. They are bigger life decisions and often require more attention.

Apart from a camera, any camera, it doesn’t have to be the best thing in the world. It can be a phone camera. But otherwise, a kindle or reading tablet, for me, is pivotal because it allows me an escape and allows me to stay educated and keep my mind engaged. That’s one thing that I find really powerful, keeping your mind active when you are on these long expeditions or explorations.
Having a way to diversify your thought process, be it through music or reading, so you are not constantly fatiguing your brain thinking about the objective. Another thing that is very helpful for me is my meditation practice. Again, it gives my mind a hard reset. It is something I can do on a daily basis that requires nothing but my own willingness to engage with it. I think it functionally helpful in engaging the creative process as well as to continue to foster that curiosity throughout the expedition.
What is the best and the worst memory from your expeditions/shoots?
I think usually the best is usually is the worst. Because usually a really difficult situation that comes up or something that is really impactful ends up pushing you towards growth. I can point to one that is very well known, and that is the avalanche on Gasherbrum II years ago. That was one of the most unpleasant, horrific, scary experiences of my life. But it was also a moment that pushed my career into a new trajectory. It opened a lot of doors, it made me examine myself and my own experiences with climbing and my identity and pushed me down a path towards bettering myself.
Here’s this moment that was horrifically frightening, a near-death experience, it put me through a cycle of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and I also got divorced. I started drinking too much and all of that ends up being this gateway into this new life, which has allowed me to grow and push beyond certain areas in my life I never thought that were possible. It has allowed me to excel and evolve as a human.

Given the current challenging scenario globally, how do you think this will change this genre, especially since travelling might be challenge for some time to come?
I don’t know that it will change the genre. I think what it is going to do is slow it for a certain period of time. I think we are going to see a dramatic reduction in the rampant travelling that we were enjoying for so long and honestly, it is a healthy pause for the planet. I think it is a healthy pause for all of us, but I don’t think it will change the genre. I think we need to be more intentional with the trips we take, with the stories we want to tell. I hope that if it changes, it would move us to adventures with purpose versus adventure for adventure’s sake.
While covering war-affected or unfortunate areas, how do you as a photographer isolate your emotions to capture the moment as is?
Honestly, there is a lot of emotional feedback, especially when you are in an area that is affected by conflict or you are in a more impoverished area. First and foremost, I try to interpret the experience by not shutting myself down emotionally and feeling what comes up for me. Quite often, those feelings are amplified or sourced from my own ignorance, my own naivety, my own privilege. So again, the emotional upwelling, when it happens, is kind of a source of information, so I never try it shut it down.
Infact, I try to use that emotion to move me towards a better picture. If I can feel and engage with the emotional response that I am having, that can direct me towards more meaningful photography, and more meaningful art. The art should be informed by the emotion, and not outside of the emotion. If I am affected, ultimately the goal is to photograph what it feels like, not what it looks like. That’s the key for great photography. I don’t mean to show people what it looks like, I need to show them what it feels like. If I can accomplish that, then I think I can accomplish something more transcendent. The only way I can do that is to be in touch with what it actually feels like: good, bad, hard, heart- wrenching at times. But those things are informative.

Any tips that you would like to give the upcoming and young talent?
Actually, you are absolutely right, there are more story-tellers on a much more global scale than we ever have. I used to think this was a very euro-centric endeavour, and I think that that is tied to the history of how the world was when it comes to exploring. I am being kind in the way I am describing that right now. I am excited to see the very faces in the diverse group of story tellers that are coming up all over the world.
My encouragement is the same with any young storyteller: Find what you are actually passionate in talking about, not what you think looks good or getting likes on social media. Find a story or stories that move you, genuinely move you, that really does ignite your limbic resonance, or your emotional response. Pursue those. Find what drives you and find a cause that you are passionate about and pursue those. If that is adventure, then great. But make sure your adventures have some purpose behind them. Try to find that purpose and with that driving force, pursue them all the way to the grave and keep pursuing them beyond when you think they are already done. Pursue those long, big stories. But pursue what you are actually passionate about, not what you think is going to get you recognition or likes, not what you think is the thing to pursue in that moment. That’s not helpful, what’s helpful is your passion.
What was the objective of collaborating with the Cullinan and did a camouflaged SUV help during this adventure?
I don’t think the wrap of the Cullinan helped at all, in fact if anything it made us more visible. The wraps are designed to make the car more difficult to photograph. The car itself, absolutely facilitated an amazing adventure, a global exploration that I could never have anticipated. The fusion of National Geographic and Rolls-Royce in this context made a lot of sense. What we were doing was trying to test how far the car could go. We were essentially field-testing and trying to break it. We didn’t break it, so it says something about it. We were also using it to facilitate truly a global exploration of the Scottish Highlands, into the Empty Quarter, in Middle East and all across the American West. It was really about testing and seeing how far I could push the automobile and the drivers, to see how much the car can take. It was just a luxurious and comfortable ride I have ever had on any other assignment.

My weapons of choice are always Nikon. I love their Z system, they are the mirrorless cameras, their big D-8 cameras are amazing as well. Those are my workhorse cameras, the Z6 and the Z7. The Z6 is really great for videos and the Z7 is unmatched in terms of mirrorless performance in terms of still photography. They are light, they’re robust, they are unbreakable. That is my arsenal. But again, I always have to promote, you don’t have to have the best and the greatest. You can shoot film, you shoot on your camera phone or whatever you want. Just shoot. If you don’t shoot, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, to quote Wayne Gretzky.

Will Photography Industry Survive?

NEOWISE Comet
Call it the side-effect of the COVID pandemic or the boon of mankind current situation. One thing is certain that we haven’t seen such clear and non-polluted skies for a longtime. And with clearer skies comes the opportunity to peak into the universe.
The Comet NEOWISE has captured a lot of attention in the last few weeks and if you have not seen it yet then there is still sometime left for you to catch it in the sky.
The Comet is known as NEOWISE after the NASA mission that found it: The Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE). It will be a little easy to see in the northwest sky every night through July 30. It will be nearest to the earth on July 22. NASA says NEOWISE will look like a fuzzy star with a bit of a tail with a naked eye. So try to use at least binoculars or a small telescope to get a closer view.

“From its infrared signature, we can tell that it is about 5 kilometers across, and by combining the infrared data with visible-light images, we can tell that the comet’s nucleus is covered with sooty, dark particles left over from its formation near the birth of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago,” said Joseph Masiero, NEOWISE deputy principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
The object was discovered by a team using the NEOWISE space telescope on March 27, 2020. It was classified as a comet on March 31 and named after NEOWISE on April 1. It has the systematic designation C/2020 F3, indicating a non-periodic comet which was the third discovered in the second half of March 2020.
If you are scheduling to gaze at the sky, a pair of binoculars is recommended to have a superior experience. Around 30th July the comet will be visible for an hour near Ursa Major (Saptarshi Mandal) at an altitude of 40 degrees. After July it will fade away very fast and will not be visible to the unassisted eye. A pair of binoculars or a small telescope will enhance its visibility.

Karnataka Man Builds Camera-shaped House, Names children Canon, Nikon and Epson
It is appropriately said
that passion is food for the soul. Being passionate keeps everyone
energised and helps them become the best version of themselves. So
how would you best find a way to express your love towards your
passion? Well, Ravi Hongal a photographer from Belgaum, Karnataka
built a camera-shaped home and not only that, he has even named his
three sons, Canon, Nikon and Epson. If this is not love for
passion, then we surely wonder what is!
It is appropriately said that passion is food for the soul. Being passionate keeps everyone energised and helps them become the best version of themselves. So how would you best find a way to express your love towards your passion? Well, Ravi Hongal a photographer from Belgaum, Karnataka built a camera-shaped home and not only that, he has even named his three sons, Canon, Nikon and Epson. If this is not love for passion, then we surely wonder what is!
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Ravi Hongal who stays in
Belgaum, Karnataka is a photographer by passion. Since childhood,
photography was his passion and his love for cameras increased as he
grew up. He would carry his ‘Pentax’ camera out to the nearby
rural areas to capture images back then. Soon, photography became his
passion and after that, he started a business into it.
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Canon to launch EOS R5 and R6 in July?
- By Bhavya Desai
Undoubtedly the biggest news that is making the rounds in the imaging world these days is the expected launch of the latest mirrorless offering from the Japanese manufacturer, the confirmed EOS R5 and the not confirmed yet EOS R6. We can confirm from our sources that the launch is slated for the 2nd week of July, whether this will be 6th July as already rumoured awaits to be seen. But this confirmation also clears any doubts (if any) on the expected delay of the launch due to the current pandemic situation.
And this also means that there might be a lot of other manufacturers who also might have their original plan on track for the launches of their new product. For instance, users are eagerly awaiting the announcement/news on the Sony A7S III which is also expected to be launched soon.
It is no surprise that this will be a ‘digital only’ launch followed by a very limited number of units available for use/reviews. With limited units I am not certain how Canon will allow users to touch and feel of the product. Especially in a category like this where the customers do tend to get their hands on the products. Will this dent its sales chart?
What we know about the EOS R5?
In case you haven’t read all the news, then in a series of teasers Canon has already given the viewers an idea about some of the of the EOS R5. Some of it is already confirmed by Canon while other things are still rumoured.
For instance, Canon has already confirmed that the EOS R5 will be able to capture 8K video using the full width of its sensor with users being able to extract oversampled 4K video and high-resolution still images from the video footage for use and will be the first camera at that. But some rumours also suggest that the camera will be able to shoot 4k at 120 fps. If that is really happening, then it has us super excited since we love those slow-mos.
But what Canon has also confirmed is that the Dual Pixel AF will be available in all video modes and at all resolutions and frame rates in the R5. That is much needed and a great news. And not only that, it will also feature IBIS, which combined with lens stabilization will have one of the most powerful stabilization in the business.
The camera will also be able to shoot 12 fps in burst mode with the mechanical shutter or 20 fps with the electronic shutter. All the wildlife and sports photographers might get excited with this news.
But we do anticipate certain limitations on the 8k and 4k shooting capabilities to avoid heating issues, especially considering that the camera is expected in a compact body.
What to Expect: Pricing?
There is no way to be certain on the pricing for the product currently since the pandemic has sent the cost and overheads supply chain in a tizzy. But considering that it will compete with the existing products available from Sony, Nikon and Panasonic, I would anticipate it to be around the ₹ 2.5 lacs mark.
Will the Design be the same as the R?
It is obvious that the design will be based on the EOS R, which means that it will feature a compact body, but in all likelihood the touch bar at the back will be replaced by the scroll wheel.
We are also particularly interested to know about the battery life of the camera. Although Canon has not confirmed anything about the battery yet.
Will the R6 be launched and the strategy?
While the manufacturer is tight lipped about the R6, we are certain that the camera will be launched alongside the EOS R5. The camera is expected to have all the top features like the R5 (surprising to believe) powered with a much lesser 20-megapixel sensor as rumoured by Canon Rumours.
The camera will sit in the lower range of the mirrorless cameras adding feature prowess to the line-up. The reason if feel that the R6 will make its debut the same day is because as a strategy it makes sense to offer two cameras in different segments with similar products.
Plus, when Canon launched the EOS R couple of years ago, it was still trying to find its feet in the mirrorless market. The following year they launched the RP. So I wouldn’t expect a company like Canon to make the same mistake again.
What this means for the segment?
While everyone is fixated on what features will the R5 or the R6 have, essentially what everyone is missing is the fact that with this launch Canon will leapfrog itself in the mirrorless race. When the R and the RP was launched, everyone including us criticised the manufacturer for entering the market late and possibly not introducing the best products/features in the segment.
Cut to two years, Canon seems to have now found its feet firmly in the segment and probably improved leaps and bounds in this segments. Of course, what is the level of performance that the products will deliver remains to be seen. But it would be surprising if they didn’t. Either ways it will open up the doorways for other manufacturers to push features like full width 8k to the consumers. So all in all it is the consumer who will certainly benefit from this.

Different Indoor Photo Projects you must try








Mastering the finesse of Product Photography



- You must keep your focus on the logo of the brand. Make sure it’s clearly visible in the image.
- Understand the details of the product. Accordingly build the light set-up.
- Decide a theme before you shoot that product. Always plan your shoot beforehand and create mood in the image according to the theme.


